The Lance: A Novel Reviewed By Dr. Wesley Britton of Bookpleasures.com

Dr. Wesley Britton

Reviewer Dr. Wesley
Britton: Dr. Britton is the author of four non-fiction books on
espionage in literature and the media. Starting in fall 2015, his new
six-book science fiction series, The Beta-Earth Chronicles, debuted
via BearManor Media. For seven years, he was co-host of online
radio’s Dave White Presents where he contributed interviews with a
host of entertainment insiders. Before his retirement in 2016, Dr.
Britton taught English at Harrisburg Area Community College. Learn
more about Dr. Britton at hisWEBSITE

Alex Lukeman’s debut
novel, White Jade, introduced readers to the covert team he calls
Project. There’s ex-Marine Nick Carter who is the main man of
action in the field. He’s haunted by both memories of a dead
fiancée and his war experiences in Afghanistan. He’s also gifted,
or cursed, by prophetic dreams. There’s Selena Connor who, in White
Jade, was introduced as a language authority and martial arts expert.
She’s now Carter’s lover and partner on missions. There’s
Elizabeth Harker, the Project’s head, who has a direct line to the
president enabling him to cut through the bureaucracies of other
intelligence agencies. Computer whiz Stephanie Willits is Harker’s
deputy, and Native-American Ronnie Peete is the third wheel in the
team when it’s out doing its operations.

In White Jade, all these
characters are developed in a slow-burning—if fast-paced--story
which escalated from a murder mystery to the novel’s grand scale
conclusion. This time around, The Lance opens with the end of
the Third Reich and a secret left on the ocean floor awaiting
re-discovery 70 years later. Then, we see Carter in
Israel becoming a bodyguard for the president when the leader of the
Free World visits the Temple Mount in a bid to pave the way for
peace—only to be saved by Carter when the sacred place is
destroyed. From that point forward, Harker isn’t the
only Project member with the president’s ear.

The story then gets very
global indeed with scenes in Antarctica, in a sunken Nazi sub off the
coast of Argentina, and in gun duels all over Washington D.C. There
are powerful forces at work hoping to stop the Project and take over
the world—once again.

In the second book of his
Project series, Lukeman is a bit more conventional in his approach.
Once you know neo-Nazis are involved, you know certain tropes are
going to appear—hidden treasure, anti-Semitism, and the imagery and
symbolism of Hitler’s time in power. As the story progresses—and
the body count mounts—it’s hard not to think of the Sean Dillon
books by Jack Higgins where an elite independent team are able
to take out small armies while never getting hit with mortal wounds
themselves. But that’s why they call them thrillers and not
speculative fiction. In this story, the characters don’t have much
time to reflect or even have a meal—the action is fast and
daunting. Perhaps the third outing can meld the best of the first two
books: the depth of the personalities of White Jade with the
multi-layered threats of The Lance. I plan to be first in line to
find out.